Krabi: Salt water blues

Soaring.Culinary.Damp

We flew into a rather grey Krabi and the umbrella we’d hauled back from Myanmar was called into immediate action. Rainfall is becoming less novel for us as time goes on, at one point we had gone five or six months without a single drop but as the seasons change the inevitable deluges have started to arrive, in some places you can set you watch by them. Undeterred we headed into the night market and stumbled upon my favourite meal of the trip so far, creamy coconut curry cooked in clay pots with crispy noodles called Khoa Soi, I managed to eat from her stall every evening despite her moving to a different market each night.

The following morning we headed off on a bike to an area around 50kms South where fresh spring water converges with salt water to produce a uniquely beautiful series of lagoons and streams known locally as the emerald pool. It was a week end and we by no means had the place to ourselves but it didn’t matter once we set our eyes on the crystal clear waters mixing with deep salt water blues set amongst the twisting mangroves. I enjoyed a quick dip before attempting to slide down the watery rock faces like a couple of local kids, unlike them I ended up squarely on my arse. Pride and limbs bruised we headed back to the comfort of Khoa Soi and a quick beer at a cool little reggae bar we’d found opposite our guesthouse.We’d been told not to miss railay beach, only accessible by boat as it was hemmed in on all sides by soaring karst mountains and is a favourite of climbers all over the world. Not having done much climbing myself I can see the appeal, the place makes for a dramatic climb with impossibly steep limestone jutting upwards directly off the beach. Sarah settled in to watch the climbers while I attempted the steep climb up to a viewpoint up in the jungle. The climb to the viewpoint was challenging, the even steeper climb and then descent to a completely isolated lagoon was a real test which left me hanging by one arm on a few occasions wondering where the hell my feet are going to go. After an hour or so I’d descended down into a circular cavern of towering cliffs with a shallow pool at its base. It was just me and the monkeys, my isolation in such a foreign and beautiful place was profound as the rain started to pour down as I floated in the middle of the lagoon. The rain made the climb back up and then down treturous but I didn’t care one bit.

Re-united we headed to Railay west for a spot of food before catching the boat back to our guesthouse in Krabi, Khoa Soi and bed soon followed. It rained from dusk till dawn the following day but it mattered little as we were safely on our way south towards the famous destination of Phuket.

Photos here